David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, Wednesday, April 30, 2014. less

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, ... more

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, Wednesday, April 30, 2014. less

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, ... more

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., right, founder and CEO of Colupon, spends time in the marketing and developement department of his company Wednesday, April 30, 2013. Next to him is Adam Huet, 19, of Danbury, vice president of operations for Colupon. less

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., right, founder and CEO of Colupon, spends time in the marketing and developement department of his company Wednesday, April 30, 2013. Next to him is Adam Huet, 19, of ... more

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, Wednesday, April 30, 2014. less

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield, Conn., is the founder and CEO of Colupon, a company that aims to help merchants reach customers and college students to save money. He is photographed at his Danbury office, ... more

DANBURY -- What started as an idea while a young entrepreneur was in calculus class two years ago at Marist College has already become a start up company in the city worth more than $4 million.

David Reunert, 20, of Ridgefield founded Colupon, a savings app that's being called the new and improved Groupon, as a way for struggling college students to save money on every day purchases.

Reunert began issuing printed coupon books much like those he had seen his mother use in years past at the Woodbury Commons shopping center when he realized there was a better option.

"Nobody seems to use printed coupons anymore," he said. "That's when I remembered that just about every kid has this device in their pocket that could serve as a great platform to deliver the savings in a much more effective way."

Unlike Groupon, Reunert said his company is completely paperless and merchants aren't required to have special equipment to read the coupon if a paper copy isn't available.

"Paper really clouds the experience," Reunert said. "If you're taking a girl to a restaurant nobody wants to pull out a coupon. We built a platform that anyone can use."

He added that merchants who pay per redeem and can determine what discounts they want to be available through the app have flocked to the service.

"We already have more than 450 merchants just in Fairfield County," he said. "There is at least one or more merchants offering discounts within a three mile radius."

Tom Joyce, a Darien resident and former CEO of Knight Capital is one of Colupon's original investors and serves as vice chairman of the company's board.

"David realized there was an opportunity in the way that students and merchants interact and he embraced it with an entrepreneurial zeal you don't often see," Joyce said Friday. "What strikes me is that this is the new and improved Groupon. David has found a formula that is better for both the consumer and the merchant."

Reunert said he hopes to launch a web site for the service in the near future that will allow merchants to set up their own discounts without any assistance. Merchants will also be able to target their discounts to specific demographics.

"No other coupon service is providing that," he said. "Anyone who knows how to use a mouse or a keyboard can use our service."

The company has around a dozen employees to date and Reunert said he is planning to expand in the near future. He hopes to have as many as 30 employees on board by June and is opening a product development center in California.

"We've been talking to a lot of prestigious venture capital firms that are interested in the company," Reunert said. "I estimate that by the end of the year the company will be worth between $30 and $50 million."

That's a goal that Joyce said may very well be in Reunert's grasp.

"It all depends on the execution," he said. "If David continues to execute his plan and his team continues to deliver, I think he has a really good shot of that valuation coming to fruition."